But one thing is for certain: if procedural experts are still trying untangle what happened, there is no way 215 members of Congress knew what they were voting for at the time they cast their votes.

I got this from a Hill staffer that evening:

The real story on this thing is that Members were whipped on the rule before the leadership gave us specifics about what was in the budget resolution or what the amendments would look like. We were merely told that there was a budget and it would be tied to the rule and there would be some sort of seperate vote on the war funding. We got details about the budget resolution in the last 24 hours. It’s bullshit that they claim members knew what they were getting into when they didn’t know the intimate details of the budget resolution or the rule itself until right before the vote.

I’m putting it up because it reflects what I heard from many offices that evening: Nancy Pelosi threw the rule up for a vote and sneaked it by without telling even her own members what she was asking them to vote for. She demanded they vote with leadership on a procedural motion or risk retribution, twisted arms and threatened people to get the votes she needed, and didn’t tell them she had slipped in language to cover her own ass with the Catfood Commission.

I guess we’re supposed to care about the fact that Boehner wants to spend the money on war, while the Democrats want to “save” Social Security from itself. Are we supposed to believe there’s a difference? It all winds up in Pete Peterson’s pocket anyway, and amounts to sovereign default.

Nancy Pelosi tricked her own caucus into voting for a bunch of crap they did not know about, and now she’s running some bullshit campaign to blame the Republicans for wanting to do the very thing her own deception made possible: cut Social Security benefits.

Well, the language about holding a vote on the Catfood Commission’s recommendations in the lame duck Congress is non-binding, merely a “sense of the House” that they should do so. It’s still Pelosi’s decision as to whether it comes up for a vote or not, and so if she makes the decision to do so, she will personally have to wear it.

But one thing is for certain: if procedural experts are still trying untangle what happened, there is no way 215 members of Congress knew what they were voting for at the time they cast their votes.

I got this from a Hill staffer that evening:

The real story on this thing is that Members were whipped on the rule before the leadership gave us specifics about what was in the budget resolution or what the amendments would look like. We were merely told that there was a budget and it would be tied to the rule and there would be some sort of seperate vote on the war funding. We got details about the budget resolution in the last 24 hours. It’s bullshit that they claim members knew what they were getting into when they didn’t know the intimate details of the budget resolution or the rule itself until right before the vote.

I’m putting it up because it reflects what I heard from many offices that evening: Nancy Pelosi threw the rule up for a vote and sneaked it by without telling even her own members what she was asking them to vote for. She demanded they vote with leadership on a procedural motion or risk retribution, twisted arms and threatened people to get the votes she needed, and didn’t tell them she had slipped in language to cover her own ass with the Catfood Commission.

I guess we’re supposed to care about the fact that Boehner wants to spend the money on war, while the Democrats want to “save” Social Security from itself. Are we supposed to believe there’s a difference? It all winds up in Pete Peterson’s pocket anyway, and amounts to sovereign default.

Nancy Pelosi tricked her own caucus into voting for a bunch of crap they did not know about, and now she’s running some bullshit campaign to blame the Republicans for wanting to do the very thing her own deception made possible: cut Social Security benefits.

Well, the language about holding a vote on the Catfood Commission’s recommendations in the lame duck Congress is non-binding, merely a “sense of the House” that they should do so. It’s still Pelosi’s decision as to whether it comes up for a vote or not, and so if she makes the decision to do so, she will personally have to wear it.

Jane Hamsher

Jane is the founder of Firedoglake.com. Her work has also appeared on the Huffington Post, Alternet and The American Prospect. She’s the author of the best selling book Killer Instinct and has produced such films Natural Born Killers and Permanent Midnight. She lives in Washington DC.Subscribe in a reader